Friday, January 28, 2011

Fiesta Canisters-Review and Giveaway!!

I love finding new items that are pretty, yet useful for the house. When I was given the opportunity to pick 3 canisters from Fiesta Dishes for review, I really enjoyed browsing the different colors available. I almost decided on 3 of the same color, but ended up going with a mix and match assortment! I chose Turquoise for the large, Chocolate for the medium, and Tangerine for the small.

The chocolate color is probably my favorite, although the Turquoise makes it hard to say I have 1 favorite :) I was very impressed with the quality of the canisters. They are very well-made, and my Dad was amazed at how heavy they were! They look beautiful sitting on the kitchen counter, and all 3 colors blend well with each other. The lids have a rubber lining that provides an airtight seal. The large canister is perfect for storing sugar, since we always keep plenty on hand. I’ve been keeping coffee in the medium canister, as it is the perfect size for a bag of coffee. The small one is just right for storing hot chocolate mix or tea bags...depending on what I have in the pantry :)

FIESTA® was the creation of Frederick Hurten Rhead, a second generation Stoke-on-Trent potter who had become Homer Laughlin’s design director in 1927.FIESTA® was an immediate hit with the public and, by it’s second year of production, more than one million pieces were produced.The original five colors were Red, Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Green and Ivory. Turquoise was added early in 1937. The shapes of FIESTA® were created in an Art Deco style with concentric circles highlighting the bright colors.The first six colors were produced through the 1930’s and 40’s until a change in fashion direction dictated a change to a softer palette of pastel colors at the beginning of the 1950’s.Color trends moved back to brighter colors in the early 1960’s and FIESTA® moved with the trend. By the late 60’s earthtones were in vogue and the dinnerware industry turned in that direction. Popularity of these colors proved to be short-lived and sales began to fall. At the end of 1972, FIESTA® was retired after 37 years of production.The retired dinnerware line soon became popular with collectors, especially those who had childhood memories of this brightly colored dinnerware. As years passed, the value of the original FIESTA® colors and pieces grew as more people became avid collectors.In 1985, officials of Bloomingdale’s, the prestigious retailer in New York City approached Homer Laughlin about reproducing a dinnerware line from the past. Soon the two companies agreed that FIESTA® had the greatest chance for commercial success.In early 1986, Bloomingdale’s introduced a new line of FIESTA® with a new color palette and with improvements to the body and glaze. Homer Laughlin was the country’s leading producer of restaurant china and it was determined that the new FIESTA® should be made of the same durable, restaurant- quality china body as the company’s other products. The ceramic glaze would be lead-free, a comparatively new innovation in the china industry.This new version of FIESTA® was an instant success and a new generation of consumers became converts to FIESTA’s popularity.Over the next twenty years, new colors have been introduced and FIESTA® has become a trendsetter of color for the housewares industry. In the seventy years since FIESTA® was first produced, there have been a total of 38 colors in the line.Today, Homer Laughlin introduces one new color each year and FIESTA® has become the leading dinnerware brand in casual tabletop, as well as a consistent leader in bridal registries across America.All the while, collectors have continued to add to the dinnerware to which they were first introduced by their mothers and grandmothers. Today, FIESTA® dinnerware is the most collected dinnerware in the history of the tabletop industry with well over one half billion pieces produced."

The winner of this giveaway will receive their own set of 1-Large, 1-Medium and 1-Small Canister from Fiesta!

1 entry-Tweet this giveaway. This may be done once every 7 days, which means a total of twice during this giveaway. Leave a comment with a link to your Tweet.

1 entry-Enter another of my giveaways. Leave a comment for each giveaway you enter.

1 entry-Leave a comment on a review (NOT giveaway) post. You may do this for up to 2 review posts=up to 2 comments.

3 entries-Blog about this giveaway. Leave 3 comments with a link to your post.

This giveaway ends Friday, Feb. 11 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Please leave a valid email address in each comment, as this is how the winner will be notified. Winner will have 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to US residents only.

Disclaimer:I was not monetarily compensated in any way for this post. All thoughts and opinions are mine. All quotes taken from the Fiesta Factory Direct website.